Ahaziah King of Judah
1The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king in his place, since the raiders, who came with the Arabs into the camp, had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
2Ahaziah was twenty-two22:2 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 8:26); Hebrew forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri.
3He too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to act wickedly. 4He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisers, to his undoing. 5He also followed their counsel when he went with Joram22:5 Hebrew Jehoram, a variant of Joram; also in verses 6 and 7 son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; 6so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramoth22:6 Hebrew Ramah, a variant of Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram.
Then Ahaziah22:6 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 8:29); most Hebrew manuscripts Azariah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab because he had been wounded.
7Through Ahaziah’s visit to Joram, God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives, who had been attending Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9He then went in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. He was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He was a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” So there was no one in the house of Ahaziah powerful enough to retain the kingdom.
Athaliah and Joash
10When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah. 11But Jehosheba,22:11 Hebrew Jehoshabeath, a variant of Jehosheba the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba,22:11 Hebrew Jehoshabeath, a variant of Jehosheba the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him. 12He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.
Kong Ahazja af Juda
2.Kong. 8,25-29; 9,21-29
1Befolkningen i Jerusalem valgte derefter Ahazja, Jorams yngste søn, til konge, eftersom de arabere, der havde gjort indfald i landet, havde gjort det af med Jorams øvrige sønner. 2Ahazja var 2222,2 MT siger 42, men en del gamle oversættelser siger 22, som der også står i 2.Kong. 8,26. år gammel, da han blev konge, og han regerede i Jerusalem i ét år. Hans mor hed Atalja og var kong Omris barnebarn. 3Ahazja var lige så ond en konge som dem fra Ahabs slægt, for hans mor var en dårlig rådgiver for ham. 4Han gjorde, hvad der var ondt i Herrens øjne, som Ahabs slægt altid havde gjort. Han havde nemlig valgt sine rådgivere fra den slægt efter sin fars død, og det blev hans undergang.
5Ahazja fulgte deres råd og indgik forbund med Israels kong Joram, søn af Ahab. Derfor sluttede han sig til Joram i krigen mod kong Hazael af Aram. Aramæerne vandt slaget ved Ramot-Gilead, og Joram blev såret, 6hvorefter han trak sig tilbage til Jizre’el for at blive rask igen. Ahazja tog derfor til Jizre’el for at se til ham, 7og det blev hans undergang, for Gud ønskede at straffe ham. Mens han var på besøg der, tog han med Joram ud for at møde Jehu, søn af Nimshi, som Herren havde udvalgt til at gøre det af med resten af Ahabs slægt.
8Mens Jehu var i gang med denne opgave, traf han nogle af Judas ledende mænd og nogle af Ahazjas slægtninge, som var med i Ahazjas følge. Dem huggede han også ned. 9Derefter fortsatte Jehus mænd jagten på Ahazja, og de fandt ham i byen Samaria. De førte ham straks til Jehu, der slog ham ihjel. Ahazja fik dog en anstændig begravelse, for han var trods alt barnebarn af kong Joshafat, der af hele sit hjerte havde tjent Herren. Ahazjas sønner var helt små, så ingen af dem kunne overtage tronen.
Atalja overtager magten i Juda
2.Kong. 11,1-3
10Dengang Atalja, som var mor til kong Ahazja af Juda, hørte, at hendes søn var død, satte hun sig for at udrydde samtlige medlemmer af den judæiske kongefamilie.
11Men Ahazjas søster, Josheba,22,11 Også kaldet „Joshabat”. fjernede i al hemmelighed Ahazjas yngste søn, Joash, som kun var et spædbarn, fra de øvrige prinser, som skulle dræbes. Det lykkedes Josheba, som var gift med præsten Jojada, at gemme både Joash og hans amme i et soveværelse. 12Drengen blev derefter holdt skjult på tempelområdet i de seks år, Atalja regerede i Juda.
